Christmas gifts arrive for Island Grove residents

For residents of Greeley’s Island Grove Apartments, a special gift comes every year without bows, without colorful paper, and certainly not a jolly old fellow dressed in red.

Monday the gifts arrived in the back of a pickup truck, wrapped in burlap. Pinto beans. By the 20-pound sack. And a lot of them – 110 sacks for each of the 108-units at the north Greeley complex.

For dozens of Christmases, the St. Vrain Valley Young Farmers Association has delivered northern Colorado pinto beans to Island Grove Village, a multi-family housing complex.

Steve Coleman, advisor to the St. Vrain chapter, which is part of the Colorado Young Farmers Educational Association, said his group looks forward to the project every year.

“It’s become a tradition for a lot of us, like decorating the tree or hanging mistletoe. It’s what Christmas cheer is all about,” Coleman said.

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In addition to the St. Vrain Young Farmers, beans are donated by Northern Feed and Bean of Lucerne, Colorado Bean of Greeley, Western International Grain in Milliken and Twin Peaks Seed and Grain in Longmont.

The 20-pound sacks of beans were distributed during the residents’ annual Christmas party Monday evening along with small packages donated by the Island Grove staff and resident council.

Dick Maxfield, owner of Maxfield Services Corp., which manages the housing complex, said there’s a dance for older kids in the complex while Santa and Mrs. Claus are there for the younger set.

“And this year, a youth group from Trinity Episcopal Church was scheduled to come and join us for some old-fashioned caroling,” Maxfield said.